Luka Magnotta arrested in Berlin

Article content

With the words "you got me," Luka Magnotta gave himself up to German police Monday.

The six-day international manhunt for the suspected body-parts killer ended around 2 p.m. local time when the 29-year-old man of many disguises was picked up at an internet cafe on Karl-Marx-Strasse in the southern Neukolln district of Berlin.

Magnotta's case has been big news in Europe. Though he's yet to be convicted of any crime, the French press have dubbed him "The Dismemberer" and the English tabloids refer to him alternately as the "Canadian Psycho" or the "Cannibal Killer."

Magnotta, a former porn actor and stripper, faces trial in Montreal for the ice-pick murder and subsequent dismemberment of Chinese national Jun Lin.

Cafe owner Kadir Anlayisli told Reuters news agency that he had read about Magnotta and recognized his face when the man took off his sunglasses in the cafe.

He then stepped outside, stopped a passing police van and told them: "I have someone here you might be looking for."

An employee at the Berlin cafe says Magnotta was looking at a web page about himself when an officer, alerted by staff, walked up to him and asked him for identification.

While Magnotta didn't resist arrest, he did make a half-hearted attempt to avoid police custody, Berlin police spokesman Guido Busch told QMI Agency.

"(He) first tried to get out by telling several names that are fiction," Busch said. "At last he said, 'You got me.'"

Magnotta is expected to appear before a judge on Tuesday.

"I'm very happy that the Berlin police arrested him and that nobody was injured in the whole arrest," another Berlin police spokesman, Stefan Rieldich, told QMI. "I think we can all be very happy with the outcome."

A spokesperson for Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Canada will submit a formal request for Magnotta's extradition.

Magnotta's arrest sets the stage for one of the most high-profile trials in recent Canadian history once he's extradited to Montreal.

German police expect Magnotta to be back in Canada by the end of the week, but Montreal lawyer Stephane Handfield, who specializes in extradition law, said the process could be delayed should Magnotta contest extradition.

"If he decides to (contest it) it could take several months, if not a few years, before the suspect crosses the Canadian border," Handfield said.

Magnotta faces charges of first-degree murder, indignity to a corpse and production and distribution of obscene material.

He also faces charges of criminal harassment towards Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Parliament.

"I'm obviously pleased that the suspect has been arrested and I just want to congratulate the police forces on their good work," Harper told reporters in London, UK, where he is attending Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The case quickly made international headlines after a janitor found Lin's torso stuffed in a suitcase behind a Montreal apartment building last Tuesday. Magnotta is suspected to have mailed parts of Lin's body to the federal Conservatives and the Liberals after Lin was killed on May 24 or 25.

A source told QMI that Magnotta and Lin were dating, and Magnotta became angry when Lin broke off the relationship and started dating another man.

The source said it was Lin's new partner who reported Lin missing to police.

In a gruesome twist, a video clip of the murder was posted on a gore website, and police have said the video depicts acts that took place in Magnotta's west-end apartment.

Montreal police said the suspect flew to Paris and that he had been spotted.

Magnotta's was the lead photo on Interpol's website as of May 30, when an international arrest warrant was issued for him.

The French newspaper 20 Minutes reported Monday that Magnotta was believed to have headed to Berlin on Friday evening aboard a Eurolines bus.

20 Minutes says detectives showed his photo to employees at the Bagnolet bus terminal in Paris. Investigators also examined footage from about 20 video cameras at the terminal, the newspaper said.

AFP reported Sunday that a source said French police were allegedly able to track Magnotta's whereabouts through his cellphone.

Magnotta was raised mainly by his grandparents and grew up in east-end Toronto and in Lindsay, Ont., northeast of the city.

He had a massive Internet presence and also worked in the gay porn industry before recently moving to Montreal.

-- With files form Daniel Proussalidis

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Luka Magnotta arrested in Berlin Back to video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video